[JURIST] California Supreme Court Chief Justice and Republican appointee Ronald George [official profile] said in a Reuters interview Tuesday that the state should execute death row inmates within five years of sentencing or reprieve them, as opposed to waiting for twenty years or more as it does now. This issue has received increased attention in light of the upcoming execution of former Crips [NAGIA backgrounder] gang co-founder Stanley Tookie Williams [advocacy website], who has been on death row since 1981. "If people want to have the death penalty, then I think sufficient resources should be provided to carry out the process in a timely way," George said. "I would think in most instances this should be finalized with either an affirmance or a reversal within perhaps five years, let's say, but not 20." Since 1978, California has executed 11 men, while 48 have died of illness, suicide, or other causes. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] A bill [PDF text] renewing the 2002 Terrorism Risk Insurance Act [text] will be debated in the US House of Representatives later this week, according to acting House Majority Leader Roy Blunt (R-MS) [official website]. The original law, passed after 9/11 and set to expire on December 31, 2005, required insurers to offer terrorism insurance but capped private insurance company liability at $5 million, with the government reimbursing any excess liability. The Senate version of the bill [PDF text], passed last month and supported by the White House, increases the cap to $50 million in 2006 and $100 million in 2007. Some insurers and homeowners would like to see the original bill extended in its current form, saying that it promotes construction and economic progress. Leaders expect the bill to be swiftly passed, as the House is operating under a suspension calendar this week, where bills require a two-thirds majority to pass and debate is limited to 40 minutes. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The Pentagon announced Tuesday that military commission trials for two foreign Guantanamo prisoners will begin with plea hearings on January 10 at the Guantanamo Bay [JURIST archive] detention facility without waiting for the US Supreme Court to decide the legality of such tribunals. The Supreme Court has granted certiorari in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld [Duke Law backgrounder; JURIST report], where it will decide whether the president has the power to authorize military commissions for foreign citizens in the war on terror. The two detainees whose trials have been scheduled are Canadian Omar Ahmed Kadhr, charged [Pentagon charge sheet, PDF] last month with murder, and Yemeni Ali Hamza Ahmed Sulayman al Bahlul, charged [Pentagon charge sheet, PDF] in 2004 with conspiracy. The charges were approved [DoD press release] by the Department of Defense early last month. Nine Guantanamo Bay detainees have so far been charged with war crimes ; the trials of three other charged detainees, including David Hicks [JURIST report], are currently under judicial stay until the resolution of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] A Russian judge announced at a preliminary hearing Tuesday that three Chechens accused of murdering [JURIST report] US journalist Paul Klebnikov [Economist obituary] in July 2004 would be tried in front of a jury during closed sessions. The man the Russian prosecutor's office believes to have ordered the killings [JURIST report], Chechen rebel leader Khozh-Akhmed Nukhayev [AFP profile], is still at large. Though the trial will not be open to the public because of the sensitivity of some of the evidence, the US State Department has been pushing for an open trial to "ensure transparency." Some believe that the murder was in retaliation for a book Klebnikov wrote about Nukhayev titled Conversations with a Barbarian; other observers suggest that the US journalist may have angered Soviets through his work for Forbes magazine's Russian edition, where he investigated corruption within the Soviet business world. AP has more.

[JURIST] Natwar Singh [official profile], India's former foreign minister, resigned his position on the Indian Cabinet on Tuesday amid accusations that his majority party improperly benefited from the UN's oil-for-food program [JURIST news archive]. Singh maintained his innocence on Tuesday, asserting he was stepping down to avoid being the excuse for the opposition to stall in Parliament. In November, Singh was removed from the foreign minister position [JURIST report] at his own request after being implicated in the oil-for-food scheme, but remained on the cabinet as the new Indian premier assumed office. AFP has more.

[JURIST] The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit [official website] ruled [opinion text, PDF] Tuesday that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) [official website] lacks the statutory authority to compel lawyers to provide periodic notice of privacy to clients under the 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act [text], regulating "financial institutions." The Court said that Congress never intended for the Act to apply to lawyers and the FTC had overstepped the bounds of its power under the statute. The American Bar Association (ABA) [profession website] contends [press release] that clients are better protected by the ethical codes of conduct for lawyers that each state imposes and that notices under the Act would only confuse clients who already expect confidentiality. The ABA and New York State Bar Association [official website] brought the suit against the FTC. AP has more.

[JURIST] Azerbaijan's main political opposition party, Azadliq [official website in Azeri], announced Tuesday that it plans to boycott the new parliament [Milli Mejlis] that won power after disputed November elections. Azadliq won five seats in that contest, in which both party members and international observers allege widespread fraud. After the elections, both international monitors and the political opposition challenged the outcome [JURIST report]. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe [official website] asserted the election did not meet international standards for democratic elections [press release]. AP has more.

[JURIST] The heads of Romania's parliament Tuesday announced plans to seek an inquiry into the reports that Romania hosted a secret CIA prison [JURIST report]. Meanwhile in Poland, identified as another European country that may have harbored a secret CIA facility for terror detainees, the Justice Ministry [official website] announced that it will not investigate those reports, which the Polish government has already denied. ABC News on Monday reported the relocation of 11 al-Qaeda suspects [JURIST report] from secret CIA prisons in Eastern Europe to North Africa on the eve of the visit of US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice in Europe [JURIST report], during which she plans to address the allegations [JURIST report]. The report and the announcement follow pressure from the EU to conduct investigations into the allegations, including suspending voting rights [JURIST report] for nations that are found to have operated a secret prison. AP has more.

[JURIST] In a motion [PDF text] filed Tuesday, prosecutors in the trial of Zacarias Mousaoui [JURIST news archive] asked a federal judge to limit impact testimony of the hundreds of living victims who expressed their desire to testify about their loss as a result of the September 11 attacks. Arguing that allowing those "several hundred" victims an opportunity to speak would unnecessarily complicate and prolong trial proceedings, prosecutors suggested instead that the court use a representative sample of 45 victims to testify about their loss. In April, Moussaoui pleaded guilty to his involvement in the September 9/11 attacks [JURIST report]. At first, his penalty trial ws set for January of next year, but US District Judge Leonie Brinkema [official profile] in November delayed the trial for a month to February and ordered it to be divided into two stages [JURIST report]. AP has more.

[JURIST] AP is reporting that a federal jury has acquitted Sami Al-Arian [JURIST news archive; advocacy website], the former Florida professor accused of aiding Palestinian terrorists, on some counts but has deadlocked on others.

Previously in JURIST's Paper Chase...

• Ex-professor calls no witnesses to defend against US terror charges
• Federal judge says no mistrial in ex-professor terror case
• Israeli police officer testifies in ex-professor terror trial
• Trial begins for ex-professor accused of terrorism
• Former professor facing terrorism charges seeks to dismiss government evidence

ALSO ON JURIST  Text: Al-Arian indictment

[JURIST] In response to growing scrutiny of his Administration's interrogation practices, President Bush Tuesday insisted [White House transcript] that the United States does not secretly transfer terrorism suspects to foreign governments that engage in torture. The Bush Administration has been increasingly questioned about the practice, known as extraordinary rendition [Wikipedia backgrounder], since reports surfaced that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) [official website] was running a system of secret prisons in Europe [JURIST report] to which detainees were transferred. Reuters has more.

Continuing her visit to Europe. Tuesday US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice nonetheless conceded [official transcript] in a press conference with new German Chancellor Angela Merkel [official website] that the US government may have made mistakes in its battle against terrorism: "Any policy will sometimes have mistakes and it is our promise to our partners that should that be the case, that we will do everything that we can to rectify those mistakes.". Rice did not say what mistakes the US government may have made, but specifically declined to comment on Khaled el-Masri, a German man captured in Afghanistan and held for five months until he was released under then-National Security Advisor Rice's direct order [JURIST report]. Again, Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The interrogation of Syrian officials [JURIST report], part of a UN inquiry into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minster Rafik Hariri [UN materials; JURIST news archive], will be suspended after the last of five officials is questioned and returned to Syria on Wednesday. Two officials, who were brought into the UN offices in Austria via a concealed entrance, were questioned on Monday; several sources report that the head of the Syrian intelligence service's Palestinian affairs department, Lt. Gen. Zafir Youssef, Lt. Gen. Abd al-Karim Abbas, and retired Col. Samih al-Qashaani will be questioned on Wednesday. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad agreed to the questioning in late November [JURIST report], with the hope that it would correct numerous alleged errors in the UN probe that led to a October interim report [text] suggesting the assassination could not have occurred without Syrian involvement. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Tuesday heard oral arguments [recorded audio, via C-SPAN] in Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic Rights (FAIR) [Duke Law backgrounder; merit briefs], concerning whether the Solomon Amendment [text; FAIR backgrounder], a federal law that requires educational institutions, including law schools, to allow military recruiters on campus in order to receive federal funds, violates universities' First Amendment right of association. The Solomon Amendment was first passed in 1994, in response to university law schools banning military recruiters because the Defense Department's exclusion of homosexuals violated their non-discrimination policies. FAIR [advocacy website], an association of 36 law schools and law faculties, sued US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to prevent enforcement of the federal law. During arguments, Chief Justice John Roberts [JURIST news archive] suggested that campuses that didn't agree with the policy could simply refuse federal funds. However, opponents of the Solomon Amendment argue that federal money makes up a substantial amount of campus funding, and forgoing it would be impossible. Justice David Souter [Oyez profile] voiced his concern that tying federal funding to military recruiters' access to campus could hinder the free speech rights of universities. AP has more. FAIR offers additional material on the Solomon Amendment and law school policies on on-campus military recruitment.

Also Tuesday, the Court heard arguments in Domino's Pizza v. McDonald [Duke Law backgrounder; merit briefs], where the Court is deciding whether a Nevada businessman should be allowed to sue Domino's Pizza [corporate website] for racial discrimination even though he did not have an individual contract with the company. McDonald sued the pizza chain under an 1866 civil rights law that protects equal rights in contracting alleging that Domino's refused to honor its construction contracts with McDonald's company because he is black. During arguments Tuesday, justices questioned whether McDonald had standing to bring the suit because he was not an individual party to the contract. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Texas trial of US Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) [official website; JURIST news archive] on money laundering charges [JURIST report] is expected to begin early next year after Judge Pat Priest [profile] on Monday dismissed a conspiracy charge [JURIST report] against DeLay but refused to throw out the money laundering allegations. Priest's decision can be appealed by Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle [official website] within 15 days, although he has not yet announced plans to do so. Priest will wait until after the appeals period to rule on DeLay's motion to move the trial out of Austin, a liberal, Democratic-leaning city. DeLay's attorneys allege that Earle used forum shopping [JURIST report] to select a favorable jury. The money laundering charges against DeLay stem from allegations of improper campaign contributions in the 2002 elections for the Texas legislature. AP has more.

[JURIST] The United Nations on Tuesday fired Carina Perelli, head of the UN's Electoral Assistance Division [official website], for alleged employee harassment and management failures. Allegations of sexual harassment and intimidation [JURIST report] in Perelli's office were first reported in March of this year. In August, the UN formally accused Perelli of employee harassment [JURIST report]. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan decided Saturday [JURIST report] to dismiss Perelli for her alleged misdeeds. US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton criticized the decision [JURIST report] because it came just 10 days before the elections in Iraq. Although Perelli has received praise for her efforts in organizing elections in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Palestinian territories, staff at her office have criticized her for fostering an environment of sexual harassment. In response to her dismissal, Perelli on Tuesday said she will appeal [AP report] the UN's decision to fire her. AP has more.

[JURIST] Defense lawyers for German citizen Ladislav Niznansky [BBC report], the 88-year-old former Slovak Nazi commander accused of wartime massacres, demanded Tuesday that their client be acquitted and given compensation for his time in prison, saying there was no evidence showing his guilt. Niznansky was convicted in absentia and sentenced to death in then-communist Czechoslovakia in 1962 for his part in murdering 164 people during three massacres in 1945 after a failed uprising against Slovakia's Nazi puppet government. Niznansky was not arrested until March 2004 [JURIST report] in Germany. Prosecutors in the current trial, which began in September 2004 [JURIST report], have asked for the maximum sentence of life in prison for Niznansky, but his defense team says that without the evidence from the 1962 trial, which the defense says was a "communist show trial," the prosecution has little upon which to base its case. The court ordered Niznansky's release from police custody in October 2004 after a key witness admitted to no longer being able to remember the events clearly. A verdict in the trial is expected later this month. AP has more.

[JURIST] The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] filed a lawsuit [PDF complaint; press release] against former CIA Director George Tenet and other CIA officials Tuesday on behalf of Khaled el-Masri [ACLU profile], a German man who claims he was wrongfully imprisoned in 2003. The complaint alleges that Masri was a victim of the CIA's extraordinary rendition [ACLU fact sheet; Wikipedia backgrounder] practices, during which detained terror suspects are taken to other countries for interrogation. Human rights advocates say terror suspects often wind up being tortured in countries in the Middle East and other regions. El-Masri alleges that he was kidnapped while on vacation in Macedonia, beaten, drugged and transported to a secret CIA facility in Afghanistan. While being held at the CIA prison, el-Masri says he was subjected to inhumane conditions and coercive interrogation; el-Masri was later left abandoned in Albania without ever being charged. The ACLU lawsuit comes amidst allegations that the CIA has operated covert prisons in Eastern Europe [JURIST report] and used European airports for "ghost flights" [JURIST report]. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Germany Tuesday, and though she declined to comment on el Masri's case, she did acknowledge that the US may make mistakes in its battle with terrorists. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] As the fourth session of the Saddam Hussein trial [JURIST news archive] came to a close Tuesday, Hussein shouted at the judges that he would not return to an 'unjust court' when the Iraqi Special Tribunal [official website] reconvenes Wednesday. Hussein asked whether Chief Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin is "deliberately hauling defendants before the trial when they are exhausted" and complained that he has been deprived of clean clothes and shower facilities. Hussein's comments came as the court was deciding whether to reconvene Wednesday after a day of testimony from prosecution witnesses [JURIST report; BBC report] in the crimes against humanity trial. AP has more.

[JURIST] A federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit that accuses Ohio election officials of violating constitutional rights to equal protection and due process. The League of Women Voters [advocacy website] sued [PDF complaint; fact sheet] state election officials, claiming that the current system deprives citizens of voting rights, citing examples from the 2004 election [JURIST news archive]. LWV insists that Ohio's system has harmed voters for 30 years [press release] by failing to issue absentee ballots, discounting legitimate ballots, and not accommodating disabled voters. It believes that improved training for local elections officials will work to redress these inadequacies. Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell [official website] and Governor Bob Taft [official website] have vowed to fight the allegations. The lawsuit does not challenge the results from the Ohio presidential election even though a handful of challenges to recount procedures and other issues remain. AP has more.

[JURIST] The Australian Senate [official website] on Tuesday voted to approve new counter-terrorism laws that broaden the offense of sedition and allow for the detention of suspected terrorists for up to seven days. The legislation passed the lower house [JURIST report] last week after vigorous debate. The government blocked opposition attempts to amend the bill [JURIST report], allowing less than four hours to discuss over 100 proposed amendments to the bill and prompting opposition to call the move bad for democracy [AAP report]. The government did back down a bit over sedition provisions, including providing for extra protection for news reports or commentaries [Telegraph report] and Attorney General Philip Ruddock said that the sedition law will be reviewed next year. The sedition portion of the bill has come under fire in recent weeks, with opposition likening the laws to practices used in North Korea, Cuba and Syria [JURIST report], and Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser [official profile] contended [JURIST report] that the laws were reversing "centuries of advances" in human rights and protection of individual liberties. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Tuesday held that Kansas did not unconstitutionally impose a tax on distributors of fuel that was sold on an Indian reservation. In Wagnon v. Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation [Duke Law backgrounder], the Court considered whether Kansas' motor fuel tax applies to fuel delivered by off-reservation non-Indian distributors to a gas station owned by and located on the reservation of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, a federally-recognized Indian tribe. The Nation built the gas station to accommodate the growth of traffic that resulted from its new casino and imposed its own tax on the gas revenues to fund maintenance of the reservation's roads. Kansas had sought to impose its own state fuel tax on the revenues of the gas station. Read the Court's 7-2 opinion [PDF text], per Justice Thomas, along with Justice Ginsburg's dissent [PDF text]. AP has more.

[JURIST] Leading Tuesday's environmental law news, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] has ruled [PDF opinion text] to reinstate six joined cases against DuPont [corporate website] for hiding evidence about Benlate [extoxnet profile], a fungicide sold by the company, so that it could more easily settle crop loss cases in violation of the federal RICO statute [text] and state law. In its remand, the appellate court also took the step of reassigning the case to a new judge due to a number of "unusual factors that indicate to us that a reassignment is advisable to preserve the appearance of justice." The Los Angeles Times has more.

In other environmental law news...

• The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection [official website] has settled cases with Chevron [corporate website] and ConocoPhillips [corporate website] for environmental damage caused primarily by leaking tanks at gas stations. According to an announcement [press release] made Monday, the companies will purchase and give to the state 449 acres of land, including the restoration of 11 acres of wetlands, in compensation for pollution that has occurred on 355 acres of land in the state. AP has more.

[JURIST] US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld [official profile] has ordered a clarification of rules on how US troops are to respond if they witness mistreatment of detainees by other forces. The request is a result of the confusion that occurred when Rumsfeld stated that US forces in Iraq are to simply report abuse while Marine General Peter Pace [official profile], Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, insisted that US troops must act further to stop the abuse. Pentagon officials said that troops should take action to stop any abuse they witness, but it is unclear how far they can go. In a move to clarify the rules for all US troops outside the United States, Rumsfeld has asked Pace to outline a process to determine what rules apply, depending on the country, local laws, and sovereignty considerations. This issue is particularly relevant after allegations arose that Iraqi security forces abused more than 170 prisoners held in central Baghdad [JURIST report]. Tuesday's Washington Post has more.

[JURIST] Chilean Judge Victor Montiglio announced Tuesday that former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] will face a new round of human rights charges. As the judge continues to investigate Pinochet's role in Operation Colombo [Wikipedia backgrounder], where a dozen members of the opposition were allegedly kidnapped and murdered, he found enough evidence to connect Pinochet to the abduction of three more dissidents. Last month, Pinochet was charged in the disappearance of six dissidents [JURIST report] during the Operation Colombo campaign. Montiglio, however, dropped the charges in connection to the disappearance of four other dissents since those accusations were earlier dismissed by a military tribunal. Calling this as a "judicial mistake", prosecutor Boris Paredes plans to appeal the decision. Earlier this month, a panel of judges rejected the defense's argument that Pinochet was too ill to face trial [JURIST report] and he is now under house arrest. In addition to the human rights violations, Pinochet faces tax evasion and corruption charges [JURIST report]. More than 3,000 people were killed while Pinochet was in power from 1973 to 1990. BBC News has more.

[JURIST] The chief United Nations investigator leading the probe into the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri [UN materials; JURIST news archive] will leave his post on December 15 after submitting his final report to the UN, a spokesman said Tuesday. The spokesman said that German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis indicated he would conduct the investigation for only six to seven months when he joined the UN team, but that he will be available if needed past the mid-December date. Last week, both Syria and Lebanon announced that they want the UN Security Council [official website] to extend the probe [JURIST report] into Hariri's death, but Mehlis said his personal mandate will end [NYT report] after he delivers the report, adding that "I have to go back and I will go back to my job that I like. I never asked for this assignment. I agreed to be available up to seven months." AP has more.

[JURIST] The US Army [official website] Monday dropped charges against an officer who was charged with murder [JURIST report] for giving permission to soldiers serving under him to kill two Iraqi civilians, including an Iraqi teenager who was suffering from severe wounds in the aftermath of a US attack and was killed "to put him out of his misery." The murder charges against Second Lt. Erick J. Anderson of Ohio were dropped after an Army investigator presiding over Anderson's Article 32 hearing [JAG backgrounder; UCMJ text], held last month, recommended against a court martial. During Anderson's hearing [JURIST report], one soldier refused to testify because he was not given immunity from prosecution and another soldier changed his story, saying he only implicated Anderson in order to have his own life sentence reduced to 25 years. Prosecutors initially dropped the charges against Anderson in January due to lack of evidence, but new charges were filed in October [JURIST report] after further investigation. A deputy staff judge advocate at Fort Riley [official website] said the case against Anderson is now closed and the investigation is over "unless any new significant and substantially credible information comes to light." AP has more.

[JURIST] Former South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma [ANC profile] was charged with rape Tuesday in Johannesburg Magistrate's Court and was freed on 20,000 rand bail until the case opens on February 13, 2006. A family friend who viewed Zuma as a foster parent reported the alleged rape last month. Zuma has gained popularity due to his anti-apartheid advocacy, particularly among trade unionists and Communist Party members, but it seems unlikely that Zuma will be able to run in the 2009 presidential election in light of the rape allegations. Responding to the charges, Zuma said that he was innocent and that he took the allegations very seriously. South African advocacy group People Opposing Women Abuse [advocacy website] said the charge sends a positive message and was an example of the law applying equally, regardless of political status. Zuma is facing another trial for corruption [JURIST report] in the wake of the fraud conviction of his former financial adviser. Reuters has more. From Johannesburg, the Mail and Guardian has local coverage.

[JURIST] China on Tuesday denied the findings [JURIST report] of UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak [official profile, DOC] who, after a two-week visit [JURIST report] to China, criticized the country for the widespread torture and abuse of prisoners. Nowak, a UN envoy acting on behalf of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) [official website], also said his investigation was hindered [press release] by the Chinese government. Chinese Foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Tuesday that torture was banned in China and that Nowak's findings, based on evidence that suspects were routinely beaten by police, "lacks an objective foundation and does not accord with reality." Earlier this year, the Chinese parliament passed a bill that mandates punishment for police who torture detainees during interrogation [JURIST report]. However, Nowak has said deeper reforms are required and that China has the need for an independent judiciary and independent monitoring mechanisms. There have been a recent slew of cases in China where people have been wrongly convicted after giving forced confessions. For example, in April, She Xianglin, was finally released [China Daily report] after he had spent 11 years in jail for allegedly murdering his wife after the woman turned up alive. She said he had confessed to the crime under torture. Reuters has more.

[JURIST] The US held eleven captured al Qaeda suspects at two secret CIA prisons [JURIST report] in Eastern Europe until media reports exposing the existence of the prisons shut down the facilities last month, ABC News reported Monday. The prisoners were then hastily relocated [Reuters report] to a CIA facility in North Africa prior to the arrival of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice [JURIST report] in Europe. Rice's presence is an attempt to defuse increasing pressure [JURIST report] by EU lawmakers who have demanded a deeper investigation [JURIST report] into the existence of the alleged secret prisons. In a speech [transcript; JURIST report] Monday before departing on her Europe trip, Rice defended the CIA's rendition practices and said the US does not use torture, but didn't directly address the allegations of covert European prisons. Rice did say, however, that US sharing intelligence with its allies has "helped protect European countries from attack, saving European lives." Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] criticized Rice's speech, saying she mischaracterized [press release] the US government's rendition practices and expressed concern that Rice makes "extra-legal rendition sound like just another form of extradition," when it is really "a form of kidnapping and 'disappearing' someone entirely outside the law." Results of an AP poll released Tuesday revealed that around two-thirds of people living in Canada, Mexico, South Korea and Spain, where the CIA is said to be conducting secret investigations, said they would oppose allowing the US to secretly interrogate terror suspects [poll results, PDF] in their countries, with a similar number in Britain, France, Germany and Italy noting the same. AP has more.

[JURIST] "Witness A," the first woman to testify in the Saddam Hussein trial [JURIST news archive], gave her testimony Tuesday behind a curtain and with her voice distorted by computer to protect her identity, despite some technical problems which caused a short delay. Witness A continued to describe how she was forced to strip while in prison custody, a day after two witnesses gave testimony of torture [JURIST report] and summary execution, including reports of the use of electric shocks and a meat grinder, which sparked outrage by Hussein. In response, Judge Chief Judge Rizgar Mohammed Amin Tuesday cautioned the defendants to be careful about how they talked to witnesses. Amid discussion on the fairness of the trial [JURIST report], Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said Tuesday that the trial was fair [AFP report] and that Hussein's outbursts are indicative of a democratic process since the court is "giving him ample opportunity to talk." Al-Jaafari attributed Hussein's behavior in part to the fact that the trial is televised, adding that Hussein can't stay silent in front of a camera. Hussein and his co-defendants are charged with murder, torture, forced expulsions and illegal imprisonment stemming from the 1982 massacre in Dujail [JURIST report] and could face the death penalty if found guilty by the Iraqi High Criminal Court (formerly the Iraqi Special Tribunal [official website]). AP has more.

2:04 PM ET - AP provides excerpts from Witness A's testimony.

ALSO ON JURIST  Topic: Iraqi Special Tribunal | Op-ed: The Reckoning: Trying Saddam Hussein | Text: Saddam tribunal report [HRW]

[JURIST] Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) [official website] officials in Mississippi knew that their response system had been destroyed by Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive] and warned headquarters of riots, according to an eight-page document of e-mails released Monday by the US House Government Reform Committee [official website]. The correspondence between former FEMA Mississippi top responder, William Carwile and FEMA regional response official Robert Fenton, reveals that FEMA officials knew they would not be able to provide rapid help amid shortages of food, water and ice in the days following the August 29 storm. The e-mails describe Carwile's difficulties in getting body bags and refrigerated trucks to an area severely affected by the storm, and include Fenton's warning that "big time law enforcement reinforcements" would be needed in expectation of riots that would result from the shortages. The correspondence follows Friday's release by Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco [official website] of more than 100,000 documents [Governor's press release; supplement] to the House, which requested the documents for an investigation into the response and preparedness of FEMA officials. The documents revealed a partisan battle between the Democratic governor and the Bush Administration. As the investigation continues, the committee will hold a hearing Tuesday to examine whether race and class issues affected the government's sluggish response to the disaster and another hearing Wednesday to focus on the response. Democrats have called for the inquiry into the Katrina response to be carried out by an independent commission. AP has more.

[JURIST Europe] CIA-owned or operated planes made over 210 "ghost flights" through nearly 20 different British airports that may have been used to transport terror detainees [JURIST report] being relocated as part of the US practice of extraordinary rendition, according to the UK Guardian newspaper Tuesday. The Guardian notes that there is no evidence showing that any detainees were actually on the planes that landed at both military and civilian airports throughout the UK, but a recent report [official PDF text] to the UK All Party Group on Extraordinary Rendition [Guardian backgrounder] by the NYU Law Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ) [institute website] warned that simply providing landing strips and refueling services could implicate the United Kingdom as an accomplice [JURIST report] if the US were found to be breaking international law. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of rendition [JURIST news archive]. On her departure for a European junket Monday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice insisted that US rendition practices conformed to international law [JURIST report] and that it had not transported anyone to be tortured abroad. The Guardian has local coverage.

D. Wes Rist is Bureau Chief for JURIST Europe, reporting European legal news from a European perspective. He is based in the UK.

[JURIST Europe] A district court in Moscow has issued an arrest warrant for Yukos [corporate website] lawyer Pavel Ivlev on charges of embezzlement, tax evasion and money laundering. Ivlev, a New York-based lawyer for the firm ALM Feldmans [legal website in Russian], worked for Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky [advocacy profile] and claims the arrest warrant is a response to his refusal to testify against key shareholders in the Khodorkovsky trial [JURIST news archive]. MosNews has local coverage.

D. Wes Rist is Bureau Chief for JURIST Europe, reporting European legal news from a European perspective. He is based in the UK.

[JURIST Europe] French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy [official profile; in French] has announced that the French government has begun the deportation of seven foreigners found guilty of taking part in last month's rioting [JURIST report], making good his promise to deport any non-French citizen involved in the violence. Of the 83 foreigners arrested by police during the riots, 40 are prevented from being deported due to special protection under refugee law. The others may appeal their deportation orders, but must still leave France until their cases are heard. NGOs and human rights groups have criticized Sarkozy's move to deport foreigners as a double punishment for participating in the civil unrest. French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin [official profile] recently announced his intent to toughen French immigration laws [JURIST report] in the wake of the riots. Expatica has local coverage.

D. Wes Rist is Bureau Chief for JURIST Europe, reporting European legal news from a European perspective. He is based in the UK.